MBA 13": 128 or 256 SSD

128 SSD

256 SSD

I am going to buy the 13" MBA as the title says, but I am torn between the two. Usually, I will try to buy the best gadget available because I think I will not regret it. However, this case is different.

The price tag here in Singapore is S$1688 (~1360 USD) for the 128 SSD and S$2088 (~1680 USD) for the 256 SSD. The price difference is more than 300 USD, but yet what you receive is just 128 GB more of internal storage.

With that 300 USD I can spend on an external hard disk of 1-2 TB and still have money left to buy a hard case and a sleeve for the MBA.

From my past experience with MBP 2008, I only used around 60-80 GB out of 320 GB HDD (documents, music, games, Adobe Suite, etc.); my movies and downloads are in the external HDD. I don't edit movies, photos, and play games that much.

Therefore, I think I can manage with the 128 SSD one.

I am not going to bootcamp or something. And though I bought an MBA for portability (but I hate the small screen of 11" so I will go with the 13" option), I don't mind bringing an external HDD along to anywhere I go.

However, one thing I'm afraid is that the files will get bigger over the years. I am planning to keep it as my primary computer for at least 2-3 years. So I don't know if 128 SSD is enough (even for important files only). I can save music and stuff on my iPad, iPhone and external HDD though. One of my friends say that 256 SSD is not even enough, so go with 128 SSD + External HDD though.

And one more thing, I have heard that the i7 causes a lot of heat and noise to the laptop, and there is not much of a difference to upgrade to i7. Is it true? I am not a power user, and I am a student, I am trying to be as economic as possible. So is it worth to upgrade to the core i7?

Edit: I have sold my MBP already, so I will need a new laptop as soon as possible. Any piece of advice is much appreciated.

With an external drive, you should be okay. Also, as a friend mentioned, the 256gb ssd is not all that much. With either the 128gb or the 256gb, you're probably going to need an external. Use the savings and get the extras.

The 256, it won't take much filling up thats for sure, I ordered an external at the same time. 128 is really very little storage space when you consider that the OS is going to take a chunk out of it first.

I bought 256 GB so that I can use my MBA as long as possible. I am so glad I did. The price difference with student discount was not THAT great (considering the 256 GB SSD-prices online) and with iPhoto, iTunes and the like I have already used over 100 GB. It feels good to be on the safe side. Because Apple Laptops are quite expensive, I don't want to buy a new one in 2 years or so. They should last long (and with the new MBA I have the feeling they'll do) and a big HDD can help you to enjoy it as long as possible.

external HDDs don't do the job for me, because when I travel I just want to take my laptop with me. I don't want to fiddle around with cables, syncing, external libraries etc. When I want to show a photo to someone, I just want to open iPhoto and boom there it is.

Only you know what size is best for you. It's a matter of remembering that a good portion will be taken up by the OS, your applications and such. Therefore what free space that remains on a 128, isn't that great. Yes the 256 option is expensive, but there's nothing worse than to be severely limited on free space.

Yes, you can use an external, but that defeats the portability & convenience that an MBA offers. So be very diligent in choosing. When it comes to storage space it's easy to underestimate ones true needs.

Plus remember that some portion of the $300 price difference will be returned when you resell the machine. A used 128GB system will fetch less than a used 256GB system; my point being that the "cost" of the upgrade is less in terms of the over-time cost of ownership.

I just got the 128 and although I was pushing towards filling it, I did figure out to shut off the time machine snapshot feature that freed up about 32 gigs of space. I'm guessing that between iCloud and other cloud storage options, maintaining huge hd's will be a thing of the past - at least as far as huge hd's on your laptop.

I know many advocate buying for the future. But generally, I buy computers for today's use and the money I saved goes towards a future purchase. If you think 128GB is good for today, then go with the smaller storage option. With Thunderbolt and exciting new services, you might not need the extra space.

I know many advocate buying for the future. But generally, I buy computers for today's use and the money I saved goes towards a future purchase. If you think 128GB is good for today, then go with the smaller storage option. With Thunderbolt and exciting new services, you might not need the extra space.

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If the story is true, then I think the hardcore fans of movies, songs and photos will save their precious $300 on the monthly fee to use the service instead . Come to think of it, $10 per month means if you save that $300, you can have an access to an unlimited online storage for 2.5 years! The only drawback is that, you have to sync back and forth your files .

If you tend to be at home a lot - and thus can either keep the HD attached, nearby for need, or on the network, then the external would do better. The speeds of the SSD are most noticeable booting and launching programs, which would be on the internal anyways.

If you're away a lot - or somewhere like college, which is my situation - then the bigger internal can be a lifesaver. I can't get to my network storage anywhere on campus, so I keep a lot on the internal. Now, I have the 128, and I survive, but I only have about 20GB free.

This all goes to moot if you can get a static IP and set up port forwarding to a network drive. I plan to do this to the 1TB drive attached to my AirPort in my dorm room.

The other consideration is what you can afford - if you do have the extra budget for both, it may very well be worthwhile, especially if you do a lot of photography or video editing, or like to bring your music/video/photo collections with you on the road.

As a point of comparison, I picked up my SeaGate 1TB drive for just over $80.

I have a friend waiting on a 1TB SSD, were getting close, another thing that makes it a bit unfair is that SSD's are generally in 2.5 form factor. 3.5 1TB standard hard drive are just becoming price friendly.

like someone else stated it all depends how much memory you need. thunderbolt will make it easy to expand memory without compromising speed. of course thats expensive now but later it will be better. OWC offers memory upgrades too, that also make your computer faster for about $250 USD. if you wait a while those prices will come down too and you can upgrade manually.

A few things to consider. Thunderbolt external storage devices even TB sticks.

But more importantly OWC, The prices keep dropping on their replacement blades. Since they just introduced Sata III drives for the Air the current Sata II are getting more attractive. Say you decide you want 240 or 360 a year from now. Maybe the Sata II price is $300 for 360GB, that is a real possibility and I think it makes more dollar sense to wait if you indeed will want it.

From my past experience with MBP 2008, I only used around 60-80 GB out of 320 GB HDD (documents, music, games, Adobe Suite, etc.); my movies and downloads are in the external HDD. I don't edit movies, photos, and play games that much.

Therefore, I think I can manage with the 128 SSD one.

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You answered your own question. You used 60-80, you will use 60-80. And if you get an external you may use even less.
Don't buy the 256, and don't buy the i7. Such a small difference in performance isn't worth the money nor the heat/fan noise.

If you want to take an absolute minimalist approach, and you don't have a networked HD for storage, going by what you listed, you should probably get the biggest one you can get (256), although this also depends on how long you're planning on using this.

I personally have a networked drive for my computers to access for storage, so the boot drive of my computers doesn't have to be large (quite convenient).

All those considering TB for basic external storage will be very disappointed.
First off such a thing does not exist, and when it will the prices will be insane.
Then when the prices will drop, there'll be a new TB norm, AND they'll have a different computer anyway.

All those considering TB for basic external storage will be very disappointed.
First off such a thing does not exist, and when it will the prices will be insane.
Then when the prices will drop, there'll be a new TB norm, AND they'll have a different computer anyway.

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I understand the first part. You can go with the 256 SSD option or use online storage services.

However, I cannot get the grasp of what you are trying to say in the second part. What does not exist ? What prices are insane ? As far as I am concerned, 1-2 TB HDDs (not SSDs) are really cheap these days mate. My friend bought a Lacie 1 TB HDD for £100, and its size is like 2 iPhones 4.

When there is a new norm for HDD storage size, you can easily sell your HDD via eBay, and buy whatever it is the new 'norm'.

I bought the 128 SSD because I can't justify the $300 difference. And also I have a PC and few external HDD available so I just dump all my media there.

I don't use large files on my work, so 128 GB is enough for me. I installed all of my needed apps, games, docs and I still have 50 GB left. I think it's actually a good thing not having so large disk space, it makes you more careful of what to keep or not, less clutter..

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